Now that the shameless genie is out of the bottle, please see Ethical
Dilemmas in Bkcy & Insolvency, pp. 362-63, Irwin's Legal and regulatory
Environment of Business, 3d ed. McCarty et.al.
 
At 02:05 PM 3/1/98 -0500, you wrote:
>I am writing to agree with Bruce on the importance of distinguishing
>law and ethics.  I have written in the ABLJ that the conflation of the
>two is destructive to both.  But I am not quite as gloomy as Bruce
>about the demise of ethics.  I agree that in certain circumstances,
>such as politics (fund raising) and sports (Miami Heat), compliance
>with the law is confused with being ethical.  But I don't think this
>is universally true.  Business ethics texts have plenty of examples
>to the contrary.  E.g., tobacco industry advertising aimed at minors
>was legal but is plainly considered by the public to be unethical.
>(Newt Gingrich just condemned it.)
>
>
>
>>                                      3/1/98
>>Someone asked Frank Cross if law was an ethic.  Several years ago I wrote an
>>article for Business Horizons in which I developed the thesis that positive
>>law (law on the books) had become an ethical ceiling rather than the
>>traditional view that law is an ethical floor.  I also gave a paper on this
>>advancing reasons for the ascendency of law to the "higher status" of an
>>ethic at the ALSB annual meeting last August in Atlanta.
>>     Finally, in the spirit of shameless commercialism, the first chapter of
>>Fisher/Phillips' Fifth and Sixth Editions Legal, Ethical, and Regulatory
>>Environment of Business (West, 1998), also, to some extent, develops the
>>thesis that law has become an ethic.  It is a very dangerous idea, but in
>>our pluralistic and "nonjudgmental" world where no one seems willing to
>>stick his/her neck out and say what is "right", we all seem to be looking to
>>the sovereign for the "answer."  Given what transpires in Washington, D.C.
>>and a number of state capitals, this has a disturbing aspect to it.
>>     There is a bright side to the unorthodox thesis that law is an ethic:
>>As persons who teach law, we can legitimately say that we are ipso facto
>>teaching ethics!  A sound idea when confronting accreditation and curriculum
>>committees.
>>                             Lawfully yours,
>>                             Bruce D. Fisher
>>
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